The US State Department has praised the new center-right Bulgarian government for its efforts to combat major organized crime rings and judicial reform.

In the US State Department’s annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) it stated that the “Bulgarian government is very cooperative, working with many U.S. agencies, especially DEA, and has reached out to neighboring states to cooperate in interdicting the illegal flow of drugs and persons. The Bulgarian government has shown a strong commitment to reforming its law enforcement agencies and judiciary.”

It added that “The new Bulgarian government has demonstrated political will to combat major organized crime rings and has begun prosecuting numerous cases of high-level corruption.”

On the narcotics subject the report delved into the local and international narcotics trade in Bulgaria; “Bulgaria is a transit country for heroin and cocaine, as well as a producer of illicit narcotics, especially amphetamine type stimulants. Astride Balkan transit routes, Bulgaria is vulnerable to illegal flows of drugs, people, contraband, and money. Heroin distributed in Europe moves through Bulgaria from Southwest Asia via the Northern Balkan route, while chemicals used for making heroin move through Bulgaria to Turkey and Afghanistan. Marijuana and cocaine are also transported through Bulgaria.”

It continued; “Bulgaria continues to be primarily a drug transit country for heroin and cocaine. Cannabis was the most used drug in Bulgaria followed by synthetics. Heroin use remained constant during the year with experts estimating the number of heroin users to be 20,000 to 30,000 in 2009. Consumption of cocaine, primarily consumed by the wealthy, continued to increase.”

The report also included suggestions that Bulgarian criminal gangs are involved in money laundering, and drugs trafficking in Italy and Austria as well as adding that Bulgarians are used by Albanian gangs from Kosovo and Macedonia as overland couriers to the Czech Republic.